370.975 

D55 


THE  SOUTH  COMPARED 
WITH  THE  NORTH  IN 
EDUCATIONAL  REQUIREMENTS 


AGENTS  REPORT 

AT  THE 

Fourth  Conference  for  Education 
in  the  South 


HELD  AT  WINSTON-SALEM,  NORTH  CAROLINA 
APRIL  18,  19  AND  20,  1901 


\ 


G.  S.  DICKERMAN,  D.D. 

NEW  HAVEN,  CONNECTICUT 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
STACKS 


AGENT’S  REPORT: 

The  South  Compared  with  the  North  in  Educational  Requirements. 
G.  S.  DICKERMAN,  D.D. 


The  thought  of  the  North  is  of  cities.  Ought  it  to  be 
the  same  in  the  South?  Massachusetts  has  a good 
educational  system  in  its  way.  How  far  can  this 
ystem  be  used  elsewhere  ? Massachusetts  is  becoming  a 
ommonwealth  of  cities  and  her  schools  are  for  populous 
istricts.  Crowded  communities  anywhere  may  copy  them, 
but  will  they  fit  people  whose  cabins  and  coun- 
try  homes  are  a mile  apart?  Glance  at  the 
figures  of  the  last  census.  Massachusetts  has 
o cities  of  over  25,000  inhabitants.  The  10  states  south  of 
"irginia,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  with  an  area  85  times  as 
reat,  have  only  19,  and  the  aggregate  population  of  the  Mas- 
achusetts  cities  exceeds  that  of  the  latter  by  417,000.  Again, 
Massachusetts  has  no  communities  of  over  4,000  inhabitants 
ith  an  aggregate  of  2,437,994.  Her  entire  population  is 
,805,346,  so  that  the  number  in  smaller  places  is  but 
66,352.  These  10  southern  states  have  146  communities 
3f  this  rank  with  an  aggregate  of  2,148,262.  Their  entire 
opulation  is  17,121,481  and  the  number  in  smaller  places 
is  14,972,738. 

By  comparison  with  the  census  of  1890  we  may  see  the 
rend  of  population.  During  the  10  years  Massachusetts’ 
opulation  increased  566,399,  and  the  increase  in  her  no  large 
laces  was  551,555.  In  the  10  southern  states  the  increase 
was  3,071,276,  of  which  505,781  was  in  their  146  cities.  Out- 
side the  larger  places  Massachusetts  increased  14,844, 
these  instates  2,565,495.  Massachusetts  people  live  in  cities 
and  the  growth  is  there.  Southern  people  live  in  the  coun- 
tTy  and  are  to  do  so  in  the  future.  A small  part  live  in  com- 

I \ 15 


p 


9 '■/ 


munities  of  even  i,ooo  inhabitants.  The  608  places  of  this 
size  or  larger  contain  but  3,029,000,  while  14,090,000  remain 
for  the  strictly  rural  population.  This  is  for  the  ten  more 
southern  states.  If  we  add  Maryland,  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky the  number  will  rise  to  over  17,000,000.  How  many 
people  has  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut  or  Rhode  Island  in 
communities  of  less  than  1,000  inhabitants?  So  few  as  to 
be  hardly  appreciable  as  an  influence  in  their  educational 
policy. 

Now  it  is  a serious  question  in  the  North,  how  to  provide 
good  schools  for  the  country.  Even  in  Massachusetts  there 
are  scores  of  little  places  where  educational  opportunities  are 
by  no  means  of  a high  order.  Else  why  has  Berkshire 
county  415  native  white  illiterate  men  of  over  21  years  of  agei 
One  county  in  northern  Maine  has  over  15  per  cent  of  its  na- 
tive  white  voters  who  cannot  read  and  write.  New  England 
has  not  yet  answered  in  her  own  domain  the  question  of  edu- 
cation for  her  rural  people.  But  in  the  South  this  is  the, 
main  question.  Southern  cities,  like  northern  cities,  have 
institutions  which  are  their  pride  : but  the  cities  are  few  in 
the  South  and  play  a subordinate  part.  The  multitudes  of 
people  are  widely  scattered.  The  neglected  few  in  Massa- 
chusetts or  Maine  multiply  into  millions. 

To  make  the  situation  harder  the  South  has  'the  two 
races  to  complicate  everything,  two  peoples  so  unlike  yet 
bound  together  in  all  their  interests.  Usually  we  separate 
the  races  in  our  thought  and  discussion.  It  is  not  so  easy 
to  separate  them  actually.  They  touch  one  another  in  al; 
occupations ; they  breathe  the  same  atmosphere ; they 
follow  the  same  motives.  Notice  how  the  more  prosper- 
ous schools  for  negroes  are  distributed.  You  find  them 
not  where  the  negroes  are  most  numerous,  as  a genera 
thing,  but  where  the  whites  are  in  the  majority  and  have 
given  the  community  something  of  an  intellectual  char-^ 
acter.  North  Carolina  has  about  twice  as  many  whites  as 
negroes.  South  Carolina  has  a third  more  negroes  than 
whites.  Yet  the  former  state  shows  a much  larger  numbef 
of  high-grade  schools  for  this  race.  These  schools,  too., 


I 


are  not  in  the  eastern  counties  of  North  Carolina,  where 
the  most  negroes  are,  but  in  the  Piedmont  section,  where 
the  whites  outnumber  them.  In  Tennessee  less  than  a 
quarter  of  the  people  are  negroes,  in  Mississippi  over  three- 
fifths.  Yet  Tennessee  is  conspicuous  for  its  great  negro 
schools  and  Mississippi  has  very  few. 

The  explanation  seems  to  be  that  the  negroes  are  much 
more  likely  to  become  really  interested  in  education  where 
Intellectual  there  is  a vigorous  intellectual  life  among  the 
Life  Stim-  white  people  around  them.  Where  most  of 
ulates  All  people  are  white  and  are  making  exertions 

to  give  their  children  an  education,  it  awakens  the  negroes’ 
ambition  for  the  same  object.  By  a wise  statesmanship, 
however,  in  regions  populous  with  negroes  quite  a number 
of  schools  have  been  planted  — Claflin  University,  Benedict 
College,  Brainerd  Institute  and  Schofield  Industrial  School 
in  South  Carolina  ; Tuskegee  Institute  and  Calhoun  School 
in  Alabama ; and  Tougaloo  University  in  Mississippi.  In 
these  instances  I have  the  impression  that  the  white  people 
of  the  locality  have  also  shown  exceptional  interest  in  the 
enterprise  and  aided  much  toward  its  success. 

The  whole  movement  of  negro  education  when  faithfully 
analyzed  tells  not  of  the  negro’s  independence  of  his  white 
neighbors  but  of  the  influences  they  have  exerted  on  him. 
Since  the  emancipation  as  before,  though  in  another  manner, 
high-minded  men  and  women,  moving  from  day  to  day 
among  these  people  of  another  race,  have  been  the  potent 
factors  of  civilization  and  enlightenment.  But  over  against 
such  influences  are  others  that  work  for  barbarism,  some 
coming  steadily  from  the  negroes  themselves  and  others 
from  the  lower  order  of  whites.  It  is  unnecessary  to  speak 
of  these  in  detail.  Their  baleful  fruits  are  too  well  known. 

How  much  this  means  to  the  white  people  and  their 
children  ! If  the  negroes  are  apt  to  get  better  standards 
of  life  in  a place  where  two-thirds  of  the  people  are  white, 
.turn  the  case  around  and  ask  how  it  will  be  with  the  whites 
where  two-thirds  of  the  people  are  negroes  ? This  is  not 
felt  to  so  great  an  extent  in  such  states  as  North  Carolina 


17 


or  Tennessee,  where  the  counties  are  few  in  which  the  ne- 
groes preponderate.  But  take  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Mississippi  and  Louisiana.  About  120  counties  have  in 
them  twice  as  many  negroes  as  whites  and  some  of  these 
have  eight  or  ten  times  as  many.  If  it  is  not  practicable 
to  maintain  good  negro  schools  under  such  conditions,  how 
must  it  be  with  educational  opportunities  for  white  chil- 
dren ? Can  any  northern  community  understand  such  a 
situation  or  enter  into  the  dangers  involved  ? What  won- 
der that  the  people  who  have  most  at  heart  the  welfare  of 
their  families  incline  to  move  away  from  such  an  envi- 
ronment ? But  this  makes  the  community  only  the  worse 
off.  Such  people  cannot  be  spared.  They  are  wanted  to 
improve  conditions. 

An  effect  of  superior  schools  in  the  larger  centers,  with 
none  to  match  them  in  the  rural  districts,  is  to  draw  away 
the  more  progressive.  A fine  thing  for  the  centers  but  ruin- 
ous to  the  hamlet.  A process  of  this  sort  has 
been  going  on  of  late  all  over  the  country. 
North  and  South.  But  the  disastrous  conse- 
quences are  probably  greater  in  the  South.  It  would 
seem  that  this  must  be  so,  because  southern  life  has  been 
so  generally  rural  and  the  country  gentleman  has  had  such 
commanding  influence.  In  communities  with  such  a his- 
tory people  of  high  character  are  wanted  more  than  any 
one  can  tell,  to  illumine  everything,  to  mould  sentiment 
and  guide  action,  to  raise  people’s  ambition  for  themselves, 
their  families  and  the  neighborhood,  to  cultivate  an  appre- 
ciation of  good  institutions,  to  represent  the  locality  in  the 
legislature,  as  in  other  notable  assemblies,  and  to  inspire 
a civic  spirit  by  participation  in  great  deliberations. 

Some  things  do  not  work  now  as  they  did  once.  Once 
the  development  of  a central  community  in  culture  and 
intelligence  developed  the  whole  region  tributary  to  it,  pro- 
ducing in  every  hamlet  the  scholar  and  leader  of  men.  Go 
into  the  hamlets  of  to-day  and  ask  for  the  scholars  and 
leaders  of  men.  Visit  particularly  the  old  rural  communi- 
ties of  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Tennes- 


The  Hamlet 
Loses 


18 


see,  Alabama,  and  learn  from  those  native  to  the  soil  what 
have  been  the  gains  and  losses  in  community  character 
during  the  last  twenty  years.  Vital  to  the  welfare  of  the 
community  is  the  progressive  spirit.  This  means  educa- 
tional spirit,  good  schoolhouses  and  churches,  good  pas- 
tors and  teachers,  and,  as  a sure  result,  improved  morals, 
higher  intelligence  and  prosperity.  If  this  does  not  exist, 
what  is  to  be  done  ? Something  to  bring  it  in,  and  that 
must  be  something  that  enters  into  the  spiritual  sphere 
and  is  not  all  material.  Only  one  way  has  ever  been  found 
to  give  a better  spirit  to  individual  or  community.  It  is 
that  of  personal  impartation  from  souls  who  themselves  are 
full  to  overflowing  with  the  power  of  a higher  life. 

In  a certain  county  of  the  Appalachians  there  is  a people 
dwelling  in  their  mountain  homes  who  have  known  little  of 
good  schools.  The  constitution  of  the  state  provides  that 
certain  funds  accruing  from  the  courts  shall  be  used  for 
educating  the  children,  but  careless  officials,  more  inter- 
ested in  roads  and  bridges  than  in  anything  intellectual, 
have  employed  these  funds  for  various  public  purposes, 
but  never  for  schools.  No  one  noticed  it.  Nothing  was 
thought  of  it.  But  there  came  into  the  office  of  the  county 
superintendent  an  old  school  teacher,  alive  with  enthu- 
siasm for  the  upbuilding  of  character  in  the  children  of 
every  family.  He  bent  his  mind  to  the  mastery  of  his 
work  in  detail  and  did  not  pass  over  investigation  of  the 
laws  and  constitution,  when  lo  ! he  discovered  that  a sum 
amounting  to  $6^,000  was  due  from  the  public^treasury  for 
the  maintenance  of  his  schools.  So  inadequate  are  all  laws, 
even  to  a constitutional  clause,  till  the  man  arrives  to  give 
it  application  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit.  There  is  more 
than  one  county  where  funds  legally  belonging  to  the  pub- 
lic schools  have  been  used  for  making  roads  and  repairing 
bridges.  Traverse  these  counties,  look  into  the  wretched 
schoolhouses,  or  in  the  frequent  absence  of  such  into  the 
hired  ‘‘shack”  that  answers  the  purpose;  notice  the  hard 
benches,  the  battered  and  old-fashioned  school  books,  the  un- 
attractiveness of  everything — teacher  and  all ; then  find  out 


19 


how  long  the  school  keeps — two  or  three  or  four  months  only 
in  a year — and  the  school  money  going  for  roads  and  bridges  ! 

In  such  circumstances  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  teachers 
will  be  of  an  inspiring  order.  Capable  men  and  women 
cannot  afford  to  follow  an  occupation  that  gives  employ- 
ment less  than  half  the  year.  But  if  such  teachers  were 
available  they  could  not  get  the  places.  Where  schools  ^ 

are  so  little  honored  they  are  wanted  by  any  person  who  « 

has  nothing  else  to  do  in  the  community,  for  the  spending 
money  they  may  yield.  A member  of  the  board  is  glad  ^ 

to  give  a school  to  his  son  or  daughter,  and  influential 
citizens  lay  claim  to  them  for  one  and  another  favored 
relative. 

It  is  essential  to  correct  all  this  in  order  to  effect  any 
great  improvement  in  educational  work.  Somehow  people 
must  get  a better  apprehension  of  what  a good  school  re- 
A Clearer  quires.  The  best  public  schools  are  usually 

Apprehension  supported,  in  part,  by  a local  tax.  When  citi- 
Needed  zens  meet  together  and  vote  to  raise  a sum  of 

money  by  taxes  on  their  own  property,  they  are  likely  to  take 
some  personal  interest  in  the  things  for  which  the  money  is 
used.  School  support  by  a local  tax  is  prevalent  in  the 
North,  and  has  been  introduced  extensively  into  the  cities  of 
the  South.  In  these  places  people  value  their  schools  enough 
to  incur  personal  expense.  So  they  have  erected  commodi- 
ous buildings,  extended  the  sessions  to  nine  or  ten  months 
and  secured  the  service  of  teachers  as  accomplished  as  can 
be  found  anywhere.  Something  corresponding  to  this  needs 
to  be  carried  into  every  rural  district.  For  however  poor  a 
community  may  be,  the  people  must  go  to  some  expense  in 
order  to  prize  their  schools.  People  will  not  prize  anything 
that  costs  nothing.  So  long  as  all  the  school  money  comes 
from  the  state  and  the  people  do  nothing  but  spend  it,  they 
will  spend  it  unprofitably.  And  if,  in  the  course  of  events, 
the  national  government  should  make  educational  provisions 
and  do  nothing  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  self-help  and  inde- 
pendent initiative,  we  could  hardly  expect  anything  better  to 
come  from  that.  The  community  must  have  a hand  in  the 


20 


development  of  an  institution  so  wrought  out  of  its  own  char- 
acter as  a school. 

To  whom  shall  we  look  for  the  diffusion  of  this  nc^  spirit 
in  these  backward  districts?  The  answer  is  at  hand.  We 
have  only  to  look  to  the  men  already  in  the  work,  men  of  the 
South,  who,  with  clear  intelligence  and  unwavering  purpose, 
have  toiled  while  others  slept,  giving  themselves  with  all 
their  hearts  to  the  task  of  thinking  out  these  intricate  mazes 
of  popular  necessity  and  trying  every  clew  to  a solution.  The 
number  of  these  is  not  so  small  as  some  may  think.  They 
are  to  be  found  in  every  state  and  distributed  in  positions  of 
educational  power,  clear-headed,  pure-hearted  scholars  who 
find  no  joy  so  unalloyed  as  to  serve  the  people  among  whom 
they  live.  When  our  Lord  Jesus  sent  out  his  apostles  to 
their  ministry  he  said  to  them  : Into  whatsoever  city  or  vil- 
lage ye  shall  enter,  search  out  who  in  it  is  worthy,  and  there 
abide  till  ye  go  thence.”  He  laid  that  down  as  a primal  law 
of  his  kingdom,  — recognition  of  the  honored  men  in  a com- 
munity and  painstaking  effort  to  accomplish  one’s  mission  in 
agreement  with  them. 

j Some  of  us  come  from  a distance  and  think,  perhaps,  to 
bear  a part  in  this  educational  work.  Let  us  not  lose  out  of 
mind  that  primal  law.  The  men  on  the  ground  are  in  the 
foremost  place.  They  know  the  situation.  They  are  fa- 
miliar with  conditions.  They  have  sharpened  instincts  to 
sense  the  meaning  of  things  that  would  be  a snare  to  others. 
In  agreement  with  them  is  strength.  We  have  to  wait  for 
these  master  spirits  of  the  South  to  bring  in  the  new  order. 

Our  highest  ministry  is  to  work  with  them,  to 
The  Highest  them  like  Jethro  in  the  tent  of  Moses, — 

sympathetic  guests  with  open  mind  to  enter 
into  their  plans  and  make  them  our  own. 

Something  is  to  be  said  of  fostering  interest  in  public 
; schools  by  gifts  from  private  sources.  In  my  paper  last  year 
I at  Capon  Springs,  I spoke  of  an  undertaking  in  Washington 
1 county,  Georgia,  whereby  a number  of  rural  schools  had  been 
consolidated  and  manual  training  made  a part  of  the  course 
of  instruction.  When  the  paper  appeared  in  print  there  was 


21 


a foot-note  mentioning  certain  pressing  requirements  that 
might  be  supplied  for  ^i,ooo.  Last  January  a New  York 
gentleman,  of  our  Conference,  engaged  to  bestow  this  sum  if 
the  object  should  be  found  as  represented.  This  led  me  to 
visit  the  county  in  the  following  month  and  look  into  some 
fifteen  of  the  schools  in  widely  separated  districts.  It  was 
decided  that  the  sum  should  be  equally  divided  between  the 
whites  and  the  negroes,  it  being  understood  that  the  people 
should  raise  enough  among  themselves  to  duplicate  the  sum. 
The  particular  demand  was  for  an  industrial  school  for  each 
race  in  which  the  instruction  should  be  carried  a grade  higher 
than  was  practicable  in  the  schools  generally.  For  the  whites 
there  was  a building  favorably  situated  that  could  be  used 
for  a shop.  The  people  of  the  neighborhood  responded  to 
the  offer  by  raising  $500  in  cash.  This  provides  $1,000  in  all, 
with  which  the  shop  is  to  be  equipped  and  one  or  two  extra 
teachers  employed.  It  is  believed  that  after  the  first  season 
the  people  will  be  so  interested  in  the  school  that  they  will 
continue  it  themselves  without  further  aid. 

For  the  work  among  the  negroes  a shop  had  to  be  built. 
The  people  bought  land  for  it  to  stand  on,  materials  were 
purchased  at  a cost  of  $300,  and  the  work  of  construction 
was  done  by  the  people,  most  of  it  by  the  pupils.  The  $200 
remaining  furnished  the  school  with  tools.  It  is  now  com- 
pleted, a building  fifty  feet  long  and  of  good  proportions.  In 
three  months  from  the  time  of  the  offer  the  new  shop  was 
ready  to  be  occupied.  The  principal  of  the  school,  for  whose 
expansion  this  annex  was  built,  received  his  education  at  At- 
lanta University,  and  has  been  teaching  where  he  is  for  fifteen 
years.  Some  time  ago  he  began  to  recognize  the  demand  for 
a more  practical  education  and  went  to  Chicago  one  summer 
vacation,  at  his  own  expense,  to  take  a course  of  lessons  in 
Sloyd,  which  he  reproduced  for  his  own  pupils  on  his  return. 
When  I saw  the  school  the  pupils  were  showing  excellent 
proficiency  in  this  kind  of  work,  and  the  assistant  teacher  ex- 
hibited results  that  were  equally  good  in  needlework  and 
garment-making.  I am  confident  that  this  will  prove  a good 
investment.  There  are  eight  thousand  children  of  school  age 


22 


in  tliis  county  to  feel  its  influence.  Can  any  one  tell  of  a 
more  promising  fleld  in  which  to  lay  out  a thousand  dollars 
for  beneficent  ends? 

Is  it  not  time  for  some  comprehensive  undertaking  to 
foster  an  educational  spirit  in  the  rural  portions  of  the  South  ? 
Some  things  are  possible  to  private  beneficence  which  are 
not  so  to  legislation.  Sometimes  legislation  cannot  discrim- 
inate where  discrimination  is  essential.  It  has  to  lay  down 
general  principles  and  treat  all  alike,  even  if  it  does  more 
harm  than  good.  Discrimination  is  indispensable.  One 
community  requires  what  another  does  not  and  the  treat- 
ment that  would  help  one  might  hurt  another. 

In  what  way  can  such  a wise  discrimination  be  insti- 
tuted ? Or  is  it  unattainable  ? It  is  not  our  habit  in  these 
days  to  say  that  anything  which  needs  to  be  cannot  be. 
Look  about  us,  as  business  men  do,  and  see  if  there  is  not 
some  suggestion,  some  working  instrument  now  in  use  that 
may  be  turned  to  this  fresh  demand.  See  what  is  done  to 
provide  teachers  for  our  schools,  what  institutions  are  estab- 
lished for  this  object,  what  organized  activities  there  are, 
and  what  judicious,  experienced  men  are  directing  them. 
Do  these  have  no  meaning  for  that  toward  which  we  are 
aiming?  For  what  does  a normal  school  exist?  To  train 
teachers.  And  does  it  exercise  no  discrimination  ? Does 
it  take  all  who  come  and  train  all  alike  with  no  regard  to 
individuality,  and  when  their  course  is  done  recommend 
them  with  no  difference  to  every  position  open? 
It  is  the  practice  of  incessant  discrimination 
from  the  hour  the  student  crosses  the  thresh- 
old till  he  takes  his  diploma,  that  makes  the  attendance 
an  education. 

Why  may  not  this  discriminating  process  be  carried  into 
the  wider  educational  field,  and  why  may  we  not  look  to 
those  who  are  already  engaged  in  the  work  to  tell  us  how 
it  is  to  be  done  ? Bid  the  officers  and  teachers  of  these 
training  schools  take  into  their  view  the  communities,  far 
and  near,  for  which  their  students  may  be  in  training,  and 
make  a study  of  them.  Add  to  the  faculty  other  officers 


A Wise  Dis 
crimination 


23 


specially  designed  for  this  service  and  put  in  their  hands 
the  means  of  doing  for  these  communities  what  they  most 
need  to  have  done. 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  not  getting  out  of  our  great 
educational  institutions  anything  like  what  they  are  capable 
of  doing.  They  are  only  in  the  infancy  of  their  development 
as  engines  of  popular  enlightenment ; they  have  in  them 
undiscovered  capabilities,  comparable  to  the  forces  of  elec- 
tricity twenty  years  ago,  and  fresh,  unimagined  puttings  forth 
of  power  are  coming  to  send  thrills  of  recreative  life  wher- 
ever the  homes  of  men  are  found. 

In  this  state  of  North  Carolina  the  average  length  of 
school  term  is  about  14  weeks.  In  the  larger  places  it  is  8 
or  10  months,  which  implies  that  in  the  rural  portions  ses- 
sions are  much  shorter  than  14  weeks.  Conditions  in  South 
Carolina  are  no  better,  probably  not  so  good.  In  the  12 
southern  states  the  average  number  of  school  days  is  97. 
Correcting  this  for  the  long  sessions  of  the  larger  places,  and 
the  rural  schools  cannot  last  over  3 or  4 months  : often  they 
are  only  2 or  3 months.  For  such  schools  teaching  as  a vo- 
cation is  impossible.  Educated  persons  cannot  follow  a call- 
ing that  occupies  only  3 or  4 months  of  the  year.  The  only 
teachers  for  such  schools  are  those  who  happen  to  live  near 
by,  competent  or  incompetent. 

Over  against  this  situation  is  another  of  the  teachers’ 
training  schools.  The  number  of  these  is  not  small  and  they 
are  giving  to  many  thousand  young  men  and  women  a supe- 
rior education  for  just  this  employment.  We  may  embrace  in 
the  list  not  only  the  normal  schools  but  colleges  and  high 
grade  schools,  public  and  private.  With  such  an  unspeak- 
able want  in  the  rural  districts  and  such  increasing  prepara- 
tion of  teachers,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  ask  how  teaching  as  a 
vocation  may  be  made  more  practicable? 

How  much  would  it  cost  to  maintain  a good  teacher  8 
months  in  one  of  these  country  schools  ? Not  over  $200 -y  less 
than  this  with  the  public  fund.  But  if  half  of  this  sum  were 
offered  the  people  in  many  cases  would  gladly  raise  the  re- 
mainder. Thus,  a school  might  have  its  term  extended  to  8 


24 


or  lo  months  for  ^loo.  How  many  of  these  schools  might 
be  built  up  with  the  amount  of  money  put  into  a single  school 
building  in  one  of  our  large  cities?  A hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars would  maintain  i,ooo  schools  and  reach  with  educational 
influences  40,000  or  50,000  children. 

Normal  schools  need  an  extension  system  added.  They 
have  scholarships  by  which  pupils  are  maintained  in  school. 
They  ought  to  have  teacherships  by  which  graduates  could 
be  maintained  to  carry  on  the  work  for  which  all  their  train- 
ing is  given.  Suppose  that  even  so  moderate  a sum  as  ^1,000 
were  put  into  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  State  Normal 
College  at  Greensboro  or  Rock  Hill  or  Athens,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  it  be  used  to  assist  selected  graduates  to  con- 
tinue short  term  schools  to  a full  session.  It  would  have  a 
threefold  value.  It  would  help  the  graduate  to  a good  start 
in  her  vocation  ; it  would  be  a blessing  to  the  little  commu- 
nity whither  she  went ; and  it  would  benefit  the  normal  school 
by  broadening  its  range  and  bringing  it  into  closer  touch  with 
public  school  work. 

President  Mclver,  of  Greensboro,  tells  me  that  he  could 
name  50  students  of  his  institution  who  would  gladly  seize 
upon  such  an  opportunity  and  go  to  the  most  needy  districts 
in  the  state  if  they  could  be  assured  of  maintenance.  Presi- 
dent Johnson,  of  Rockhill,  writes:  ^‘With  $1,000  a year,  I 
could  induce  many  a public  school,  running  now  only  2 or  3 
months  in  the  year  with  poorly  paid  and  utterly  inefficient 
teachers,  to  lengthen  the  school  term  materially  and  to  em- 
ploy good  teachers.  No  educational  fund  has  been  man- 
aged more  wisely  and  been  made  to  accomplish  better  and 
greater  results  than  the  Peabody  Educational  Fund.  Dr. 
Curry,  the  distinguished  agent,  has  always  pursued  the  plan 
you  now  propose  to  stimulate  action  and  to  give  only  where 
some  effort  at  self-help  was  made.  I should  be  glad  to  give 
my  services  and  the  services  of  Winthrop  College  in  putting 
this  plan  to  the  test  in  this  section  of  the  state.”  A number 
of  others  engaged  in  similar  work  have  spoken  in  correspond- 
ing terms.  Educational  leaders  are  ready  for  any  measures 
that  promise  practical  efficiency.  In  all  efforts  to  develop 


25 


public  schools  the  normal  school  officers  will  be  found 
prompt  to  do  whatever  is  in  their  power. 

Concerning  the  education  of  the  colored  people,  it  grows 
plain  that  the  counsel  and  friendly  assistance  of  intelligent 
whites  in  the  neighborhood  are  invaluable.  Let  me  illus- 
trate : In  Wilcox  county,  Alabama,  where  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  the  people  are  negroes,  four  schools  have  been 
established  under  the  care  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church.  Each  of  these  schools  has  the  constant  oversight 
of  one  or  more  wealthy  and  influential  citizens  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  have  contributed  generously  for  the  purchase 
of  land  and  the  erection  of  the  school  buildings.  The 
teachers  of  these  schools,  some  twenty  in  number,  received 
their  training  in  Knoxville  College  and  are  still  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  the  president  of  that  institution. 
He  visits  the  schools  once  or  twice  each  year  and  carefully 
sees  to  their  management,  and  each  summer  the  band  of 
teachers  is  recalled  to  Knoxville  to  pursue  a normal  course 
and  keep  their  minds  fresh  for  their  work.  So  this  favored 
institution  of  east  Tennessee  is  working  in  direct  partner- 
ship with  planters  in  one  of  the  darkest  regions  of  Alabama. 
Can  there  be  any  question  concerning  the  soundness  and 
permanent  power  of  an  enterprise  like  that  ? 

In  every  educational  effort  search  should 
Men  of  Fore-  made  for  the  men  of  vision  and  of  power 

aSoh^^  who  are  nearest  at  hand.  A gentleman  who 
is  one  of  our  number  to-day,  speaks  of  them 
habitually  as  ‘‘prophetic  men.”  These  men  should  recog- 
nize in  what  a position  they  stand  and  hov/  much  it  means 
to  have  the  anticipatory  faculty  for  a new  order  that  is 
coming.  They  should  plan  on  a large  scale  and  expect 
large  things,  looking  for  allies  to  join  them  from  unknown 
quarters,  and  means  to  flow  in  for  carrying  on  their  under- 
takings as  fast  as  they  are  ready.  The  generous  acts  of 
so  many  captains  of  industry  in  these  times,  appropriations 
of  millions  for  various  institutions  of  enlightenment,  may 
be  taken  as  an  earnest  of  what  is  waiting  in  the  develop- 
ment of  their  own  work,  and  lead  them  to  open  channels 


26 


and  clear  the  way  for  other  golden  streams  to  turn  their 
mill  wheels  also,  and  hasten  achievements  more  wide- 
reaching  than  any  that  have  yet  been  seen. 

The  nation  has  yet  to  open  its  eyes  to  the  possibilities 
lying  dormant  in  these  great  states  of  the  South — 17,000,000 
people  in  these  stretches  of  territory,  none  of  whom  live 
in  a village  of  a thousand  inhabitants  ! Ten  million  whites 
of  our  native  American  stock,  with  few  exceptions,  and 
having  3,500,000  children  of  school  age  usually  unprovided 
with  good  schools!  Seven  million  negroes,  with  2,500,000 
children,  and  these  vitally  identified  in  their  rise  or  deterio- 
ration with  the  whites  about  them  ! Who  grasps  the  scope 
of  these  figures  and  comprehends  the  task  of  the  men  who 
have  to  wrestle  with  these  problems  ? Do  they  deserve 
no  recognition  from  the  nation  ? Can  the  nation  in  a prudent 
regard  for  its  own  permanence  and  future  growth  afford 
to  go  on  heedless  of  what  is  done  or  not  done  in  half  of 
our  territorial  domain  ? 

There  is  no  end  of  the  bounty  bestowed  on  institutions 
for  the  common  people  in  northern  cities.  Why,  as  an 
American,  should  I be  more  interested  in  the  children  of 
Boston  or  of  New  Haven  than  in  those  of  the  Carolinas 
and  Georgia  ? Who  are  the  children  of  Boston  ? Sixty- 
seven  per  cent  of  them  are  of  parentage  from  beyond  the 
sea.  Eighty  per  cent  of  the  children  of  New  York  are  of 
such  parentage,  and  the  story  is  the  same  for  other  great 
cities — Cleveland,  Chicago,  San  Francisco.  More  than 
three-quarters  of  their  people  are  of  foreign  antecedents : 
Irish,  Germans,  French,  Italians,  Hungarians,  Poles,  Rus- 
sians, Armenians,  Chinese. 

Not  that  I disparage  the  beneficent  ministries  of  educa- 
tion for  any  of  these.  It  is  all  an  occasion  of  joy.  I only 
speak  of  what  we  are  doing  for  them  to  emphasize  what  we 
ought  to  do  for  those  of  our  own  blood.  It  was  the  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles,  engaged  with  all  his  might  in  efforts  for 
people  of  other  races,  who  wrote  : If  any  provideth  not  for 
his  own,  and  especially  his  own  household,  he  hath  denied 
the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel.”  And  so,  to-day,  our 


27 


interest  in  other  people  should  but  deepen  our  sense  ot  re- 
sponsibility for  those  who  are  our  nearest  of  kin.  Who  are 
these  10,000,000  whites  of  the  South?  They  are  the  children 
of  the  colonial  pioneers,  of  the  soldiers  who  made  the  conti- 
nental army,  of  the  fathers  who  established  the  Republic. 
They  are  many  of  them  descendants  from  a New  England  an- 
cestry as  well  as  from  settlers  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas. 
A cursory  study  of  the  subject  leads  me  to  believe  that  in 
some  counties  of  Georgia  a larger  proportion  of  the  people 
can  trace  back  through  some  line  to  a New  England  sire  than 
in  the  city  of  Boston.  The  cracker  is  of  the  same  blood  with 
the  merchant  prince.  This  is  to  be  seen  in  their  very  names. 
The  people.  North  and  South,  are  one,  in  features  and  in  na- 
tive force,  cherishing  common  religious  beliefs  and  conserv- 
ing the  immemorial  traditions  of  freedom  and  independence. 

What  is  due  from  the  prosperous  men  of  the  great  cities 
of  New  England,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  to  their  kins- 
folk in  the  rural  parts  of  the  South?  This  is  only  giving  a 
new  direction  to  a very  old  question.  For  a 
Pms^rity^^  full  hundred  years  these  cities  have  generously 
recognized  their  obligations  to  their  own  chil- 
dren as  they  went  to  Ohio,  Michigan  and  all  the  region  be- 
yond to  the  Pacific  coast.  What  academy  or  college  was 
planted  anywhere  in  these  states  during  their  pioneer  days 
that  was  not  helped  from  the  older  and  wealthier  commu- 
nities of  the  East?  We  see  the  results  to-day  in  the  whole 
life  of  the  Northwest. 

Will  any  one  say  that  it  is  too  early  now  to  recognize  simi- 
lar obligations  to  these  other  pioneers  in  the  South?  The 
precedents  of  all  our  history  declare  the  necessity  of  educa- 
tion for  all  the  people.  Only  in  this  way  can  be  secured  the 
perpetuity  of  our  institutions  and  the  stability  of  our  govern- 
ment. What  is  already  done  for  the  larger  communities  we 
have  now  to  do  for  the  rural  population,  especially  for  the 
rural  population  of  the  South. 


28 


